I call this meeting to order. Welcome to meeting number 26 of the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations.
Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, September 23, 2020, the committee is meeting on its study of Canada-China relations.
This meeting is in hybrid format, pursuant to the motion adopted by the House on January 25, 2021.
Pursuant to the motion adopted by this committee on Monday, April 26, 2021, the purpose of today's meeting is for the Public Health Agency of Canada to explain why the requested documents were not provided in accordance with the committee's motion for the production of documents adopted on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
As a reminder, this motion called for unredacted documents related to the transfer of viruses that occurred in March 2019, and the revocation of security clearances and the termination of employment of two employees of the National Microbiology Laboratory.
These documents were supposed to be submitted to the law clerk and parliamentary counsel by April 20, 2021.
I want to start by thanking the Public Health Agency of Canada for producing the missing documents ahead of time. All the documents, in both official languages, were made available at around noon today to the committee members, who can access them through the digital binders.
Before we welcome the witnesses, I want to clarify for the committee members how we'll proceed this evening with the rounds of questions. Since the clerk has received different opinions from the vice-chairs, I would like to propose a compromise.
I propose that the witnesses be given up to 10 minutes for their opening remarks and that we do a first round of questions followed by a second round and a subsequent round. We'll then take a health break—this should be around 8 p.m.—and then repeat for another first round followed by a second round and a subsequent round.
Are there any objections to this plan?